


A Flower in Chaos

by Meimi



Category: Dissidia Duodecim: Final Fantasy, Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-28
Updated: 2014-02-28
Packaged: 2018-01-14 01:27:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 894
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1247560
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Meimi/pseuds/Meimi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Even something that's been lost for good can come back to you at the strangest of times.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Flower in Chaos

**Author's Note:**

> I'm not even sure where this came from. I'm just gonna blame the limited edition's costume and leave it at that.

She'd been on high alert upon her return to Yusnaan, the guards certainly kept her on her toes; but even without them dogging her throughout the city, Lightning would have known she was being followed. There was a presence there, just at the edge of her senses, both familiar and strange at the same time. At first she had thought it was one of the others come to perhaps help Snow against her, but she'd soon been abused of that notion. In the midst of dealing with another patrol, she'd caught a vision from the corner of her eye: brown hair, a kind smile and a pink dress. No one she knew. But familiar all the same. When the battle was done, whoever it had been was gone.

It was a distraction she didn't need. Snow was her main priority here, anyone else would just have to wait. And even getting to Snow was proving to be quite the endeavor. No surprise there, he always had to make everything difficult. It was one of his more annoying traits. The odd presence had diminished somewhat as she'd made her way to the Augur's Quarter, but had begun to follow her more closely as she'd headed towards the Industrial Area. Whoever they were, they wanted something from her. Still, if the information she'd received was true, there was a lot of Chaos to get through before Lightning reached her destination. That would likely run off whoever they were. 

It didn't, of course. Really, when did anything go according to plan anymore? The Chaos in her way had been normal at the beginning. But once she'd killed the monsters tied to it, the blackness had merely grown. An odd phenomenon, even by this dying world's standards. Hope had been blocked out in a span of seconds, and then it got... weird. As the black had thickened around her, streamers of florescent green energy had begun to thread through it, undulating gently as if in an nonexistent wind. 

"It's not so bad is it?" The presence finally had a voice to go with it, and a person. _Familiar_. A flower girl: a basket of blooms hanging from one arm, a pink dress, a much darker colored half coat, a brown ponytail, an infinitely kind smile, and eyes that glowed the same color as those streams of energy. Lightning knew this girl... didn't she? 

"It's frightening, of course," the girl continued as she gestured at the Chaos surrounding them. "But not so bad really if you think about it. Light always needs dark. For every beginning there must be an end. Without those cycles, life cannot flourish." 

A philosopher? For some reason, that didn't seem to fit. Lightning knew who this person was ( _She did!_ ), but couldn't recall from where. "Who are you?" 

"Your friend," the girl stated cheerfully. "In another place, another time, you called on me for assistance; and I was happy to give it. Even though those experiences were taken from us in the end, we didn't really forget. Not deep down. The important stuff stayed with us." 

"You... do seem familiar," Lightning admitted reluctantly. It was a bit ridiculous, but she felt almost... relieved in this girl's presence. Well, no, she was more a young woman. But that didn't seem correct either. There was an unsettling sense of age there as well. It could be a trap, but somehow, someway, Lightning just knew it wasn't. "But I'm sorry, I can't remember where we met." 

"It's all right." And somehow it was. Regardless of whether it should be or not. "We weren't supposed to remember. But I could see that you were having a hard time of it and I... I wanted to help you again." 

That made Lightning sad for some reason. It shouldn't have been possible, she knew that, even if she didn't know how she knew. This entire thing was very surreal. 

"I'm dead, of course." Oh. That's why. She knew that. Somehow. The woman, her forgotten friend, smiled sadly as she reached down and pulled a flower out of her basket. "It happened a long time ago. And the Planet took care of me afterwards, my Planet anyway. So it's not really all bad. Thanks to it, I could come here, and I'm glad." 

_Aerith._ A name then, dredged up from an empty place in her mind, a void of memories that she hadn't even realized was there. "Aerith. That's your name." 

"Oh! You remembered! I can't tell you how happy that makes me," Aerith beamed in pure joy as she walked up to Lightning and offered the flower to her old, forgotten friend. "You're still fighting Chaos, just like before, but remember to not get caught up in it. You can't defeat the end. You can only pave the way for the next beginning." 

"Right," Lightning nodded her understanding and accepted the unexpected, but welcome, gift. A simple flower, white petals, green stem, full of life even though it had been cut. Wasn't that the way of things? And of course, she'd keep fighting. Even here. 

Aerith chuckled lightly at Lightning's response, waved her hand in parting and was gone. The green faded ( _Lifestream_ ) along with her and the Chaos finally began to dissipate, but the flower remained. A reminder of something that had once been long ago, and now wasn't.


End file.
